WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.400 If you're anything like me and you need to listen to music or something while you're working out, 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.560 it can be frustrating how many headphones struggle with this use case. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:15.760 Ergonomics aside, some over the ear and even in ear headphones can isolate you too much from your 00:00:15.760 --> 00:00:21.360 surroundings, not to mention get sweaty and nasty. And bone conduction? It's great for when I'm swimming 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:26.560 laps, but it makes compromises on sound quality that I'd rather not have to deal with when I'm not 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:34.320 under the sea. Thankfully, shock sent over their OpenFit Pro, an open ear headphone with 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:40.080 active noise cancellation that doesn't rely on physically plugging your ear, which is great 00:00:40.080 --> 00:00:44.480 because it means you don't have to worry about that zombie sneaking up on you in the final kilometer. 00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:45.680 I know I worry about that. Ah! 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:54.720 So how do they work? Well, the principle is the same as other active noise cancelling headphones. 00:00:54.720 --> 00:01:00.560 To oversimplify it, a lot, an array of microphones listens to the sounds around you, 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:05.600 then the headphones add the inverse sound to their output, which cancels out the ambient noise. 00:01:06.320 --> 00:01:11.120 Because they're open ear, however, they don't get the benefit of a physical seal, 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:16.480 which helps other headphones block out even more noise. But that's a trade-off that shocks 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:22.160 made knowing that the seal also comes with its own set of downsides during activities, like... 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:29.920 Of course, this advantage would be kind of worthless if they didn't actually cancel out any 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:36.080 noise. So let's try these out with a pink noise machine, which admittedly is a very ideal scenario 00:01:36.080 --> 00:01:39.760 for active noise cancelling, but we'll get to some other things later, and this should at least 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:44.320 give us a baseline for how they work. So that you guys can experience what I'm experiencing, 00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:48.000 we're gonna be doing something a little unusual. I'm gonna shove a mic into his ear. 00:01:50.240 --> 00:01:53.440 We can't screen record and play back music at the same time on iPhone, so I guess we're stuck, 00:01:53.440 --> 00:02:02.880 just holding this up. But basically, that's what it sounds like. We can actually give her a little 00:02:02.880 --> 00:02:10.720 bit more. Cool, right? You do get a little bit of the pressure sensation that's typical of ANC, 00:02:10.720 --> 00:02:13.760 but if you've ever experienced it before, then you'll know what to expect. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:24.400 That's pretty trippy. To have your ear just open, but still have noise cancellation work. 00:02:32.320 --> 00:02:38.400 Huh. It's a weird sensation. I've never had it quite like it. It really is. Say that again, 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:42.640 now that I've opened it. I've never had anything. It's a weird sensation. I've never had anything 00:02:42.640 --> 00:02:47.920 quite like it. Okay. Once more at the exact same volume if you can. It's a weird sensation. I've 00:02:47.920 --> 00:02:52.320 never had anything quite like it. Yeah. Toward the very end there, it kicked in and it's like, 00:02:52.320 --> 00:02:56.240 whoa, whoa. Okay. Oh, you can find your earbuds by painting them and stuff. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.080 Wow. That's, that's pretty cool. Here, check this out. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:17.440 Can I take the mic out now? I guess so. Okay, cool. Part of why this implementation of ANC 00:03:17.440 --> 00:03:23.120 works without sealing your ear is thanks to what shocks calls their feed forward mics. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:28.000 Mic one is here and is used as the primary microphone for monitoring external noise. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:33.200 Mic two is here and is a secondary microphone that captures the noise to enhance noise reduction. 00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:38.160 And mic three is here on the inside to pick up the remaining noise that makes it toward your 00:03:38.160 --> 00:03:43.920 ear canal. It's a pretty trippy sensation to be able to hear the sounds around you really clearly 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:49.760 while also having the noise floor just drop out from under you. But noise cancellation 00:03:49.760 --> 00:03:55.120 only matters if the sound you're getting is any good. First up in the sound quality category, 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:59.760 we're going to talk about the mic and how it sounds for call quality. Oh, I guess I should throw 00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:06.480 them back on them. Shocks claims that the three mics working together with their AI voice recognition 00:04:06.480 --> 00:04:14.240 will reduce 99.4% of background noise. It's unclear exactly what that number means, but what we can do 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:19.840 is record the audio that I'm speaking right now, flip on some background noise and let you guys 00:04:19.840 --> 00:04:24.480 decide how you like it. Want to hit the white noise machine? So I'm talking right now. We've got the 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:30.000 white noise going in the background. We'll give you some using these and some using my lavalier 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.760 microphone that's on my chest and maybe hit me with some traffic, David and crank it. Okay, 00:04:35.760 --> 00:04:41.920 there's a more obnoxious traffic background noise. Talking over this, having a cool conversation with 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.000 my YouTube beer peeps. I think we're good on that, but we still haven't answered the question of how 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:53.520 they sound as, you know, headphones because this is a sponsored video and sound enjoyment is pretty 00:04:53.520 --> 00:04:58.800 subjective. Even if we can measure response curves, I don't want to get super deep into my personal 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:04.080 impressions and preferences. But what I can say is that they are good enough to enjoy a wide variety 00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:08.800 of content without the quality being distracting. Whether it's jamming out to familiar favorites, 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:13.520 hearing most of the details in new beats, or clearly identifying which character is speaking 00:05:13.520 --> 00:05:18.720 in an audiobook, they are solid. Definitely the best shocks that I've ever heard. Now, 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:23.760 open ear headphones have their pros and cons, like practically eliminating the problem of 00:05:23.760 --> 00:05:30.480 length modes that we all experience with IEMs, as well as having a very low acoustic Z or specific 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:36.480 acoustic impedance, which means that your individual listening experience should be much closer to the 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:42.800 person next to you than with sealed earbuds. On the con side, though, open ear headphones are usually 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:48.640 at a slight disadvantage when it comes to giving you full boomy bass. However, shocks claims 00:05:48.640 --> 00:05:53.760 a 50% improvement in the low end versus their last gen open ear models. And from what I've seen, 00:05:53.760 --> 00:05:58.560 they have made significant progress there. Now, this is the part where we get into shocks' 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:04.720 messaging for how they did all of this. Their dual diaphragm and high quality dome cap are designed 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:10.400 for dynamic and distortion-free sound optimized for Dolby Atmos. Now, regular viewers here probably 00:06:10.400 --> 00:06:15.600 know Dolby Atmos as the audio standard that enables better surround sound in movies and includes 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:21.680 vertical speakers, but this is not that. Unlike that Dolby Atmos, this is specifically tailored 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:27.840 to enhance the listening experience on earbuds. On top of all that, you get five EQ presets and 00:06:27.840 --> 00:06:34.320 a custom EQ in the shocks app. Always appreciate that. But what about the tired elephant in the room? 00:06:34.320 --> 00:06:39.680 It turns out he's not that tired. Shocks claims that at 50% volume, if you have the ANC off, 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:45.760 these puppies last 12 hours on a single charge and up to 50 hours with the case. Maybe more 00:06:45.760 --> 00:06:49.920 importantly for us absent-minded folk though, a 10-minute charge will provide four hours of 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:54.800 playtime and the case includes Qi wireless charging for your convenience. Now, naturally, 00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:00.080 ANC does reduce these times, but I also found that with the ANC active, I didn't need to push the 00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:06.320 volume as high. As for fit, shocks designed these to be comfortable for a long run. Now, every ear 00:07:06.320 --> 00:07:11.600 is of course different, but their Ultrasoft Silicone 2.0 really is Ultrasoft, which minimizes 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:19.360 chafing. A common runner problem. And their open ear design keeps your ears pressure-free and 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:23.840 comfortable. The earhook design is designed to ensure a stable fit under even the most intense 00:07:23.840 --> 00:07:28.400 workouts, so much so that I've been asked to do our patented head shake test. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:42.160 Okay, I finally got it. I also got a headache. And on top of everything we've seen so far, 00:07:43.440 --> 00:07:48.800 little dizzy. They're rated for IP55 water and dust resistance, which no, no, we don't need to test 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:54.640 that. Thank you though. Thank you, David. Since you're here, by the way, you've been using the 00:07:54.640 --> 00:07:59.040 Ultimate Fit Pros for about a week. Any thoughts to share? My first thought was finally headphones I 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:04.480 can share with people without feeling deep immense shame. I think sharing earbuds, disgusting. That's 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:09.760 fair. Totally, totally acceptable. This solves my major earbud problem and allows me to go for 00:08:09.760 --> 00:08:15.120 runs while having a pretty ideal balance of isolation and focus and awareness and safety. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.920 I was also really impressed with the multi-point pairing. I've had really bad experiences with 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:24.960 other devices in the past. And this possibly thanks to its Bluetooth 6.1 worked really well 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:30.080 across my PC, Steam Deck and phone without any real issues. What I also really like is that it 00:08:30.080 --> 00:08:34.080 has a physical button for controls as opposed to a capacitive touch sensor. Because when I wear 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:39.600 hoodies in the gym, it often gives false positives because I'm getting so sweaty. And so I get like 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.880 my music pausing in the middle of an intense workout and that really sucks when I'm in the 00:08:42.880 --> 00:08:47.920 groove. Okay, cool. It doesn't have the most pocketable case, but it's a lot smaller than 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:53.840 some other gym bud cases. So, you know, your mileage may vary. And the extra size is wide, 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:58.160 not thick. So I think most people will probably find a place that they can kind of slip it into. 00:08:58.160 --> 00:09:02.640 One of the best features though, is that everything we've said is fully compatible with both 00:09:02.640 --> 00:09:07.520 Android and iPhone through the Shox app. So nothing is locked into a specific ecosystem. 00:09:07.520 --> 00:09:12.400 The Shox OpenFit Pros are available right now for $250 in both black and white. And you can check 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:16.320 them out at the link in the video description. Shox has a whole array of fitness forward audio 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.600 products for a wide range of uses and prices. So you can check those out too. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:25.280 Thanks again to Shox for sponsoring this video. And if you guys want to see more headphone content, maybe go check out our ShortCircuit channel where we do 00:09:25.280 --> 00:09:28.800 more unboxings. That's where we usually unbox this kind of tech.